DEP Citizens Advisory Council To Hear About Energy Storage, Climate Change Impacts, Clean Energy Workforce Needs June 15

DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting June 15 to hear presentations on energy storage in Pennsylvania, a summary of the 2021 climate impacts assessment and clean energy workforce needs.

PA Energy Storage Assessment

DEP will present the results of its PA Energy Storage Assessment identifying the status, barriers and opportunities released in April.

Energy storage is critical to increasing the development of renewable energy generation  in the state.  

DEP’s presentation shows there are now 22 operational or announced utility-scale energy storage projects in Pennsylvania-- 1.07 GW of pumped hydro; 18 MW of lithium-ion batteries; 12.5 MW of lead-carbon batteries; 8 MW of thermal storage and 3 MW of lead-acid batteries.

The PJM told a Senate hearing last week there are now 988 MW of energy storage facility projects being proposed in Pennsylvania, along with 11,636 MW of solar generation and 1,075 MW of wind energy.   Read more here.

The Assessment makes a series of recommendations to increase the development of energy storage, including--

-- Establish a storage procurement goal or target;

-- Make changes to the utility planning and procurement process for energy storage;

-- Streamlining state and local permitting;

-- Update the interconnection process for distributed energy resources; and

-- support research and development of new energy storage technologies.

Click Here for a copy of the Assessment. Click Here for DEP’s presentation.

Climate Impact

On May 5, DEP released its 2021 Climate Impacts Assessment which concludes Pennsylvania’s average temperature will be 5.9 degrees higher and average annual precipitation will increase from 44 inches to 47 inches by mid-century.  Read more here.

As a result of these changes, the report says there will be significant consequences for the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, especially those living in Environmental Justice communities, and for ecosystems and agriculture and an increase in flooding.

Clean Energy Workforce

On May 12, DEP released a new clean energy workforce development report showing the potential for clean energy workforce development opportunities that can bolster Pennsylvania’s economy.  Read more here.

The virtual Council meeting will start at 12:30 p.m. Click Here to register to join the meeting online via Webex.  The meeting will also be available by conference call 1-415-655-0003  Access code: 132 490 9373.

For more information and available handouts, visit DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council webpage. Questions should be directed to Executive Director: Keith Salador, 717-787-8172, ksalador@pa.gov.

NewsClip:

Utility Dive: PA Takes ‘First Key Step’ To Identify Energy Storage-Boosting Strategies

[Posted: June 3, 2021]  PA Environment Digest